An introduction to cybernetics

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1. carapaceJun 2024
   If you haven't already I highly recommend reading "Introduction to Cybernetics" by Ashby, it's got the nitty-gritty formalization that later "Second Generation" et. al. cybernetics drifted away from.

   You can get a free PDF of the book here: http://pcp.vub.ac.be/ASHBBOOK.html

   > This publication has been made possible largely through Mick Ashby, the author's grandson, who has convinced the copyright holders (the Ashby estate) that they should allow us to produce an electronic version.

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2. carapaceMay 2023
   I really didn't expect that comment to go over so poorly. I am trying to be constructive here, not critical.

   > Automating "correct" is still an unsolved problem.

   That's our job.

   Cf. "Augmenting Human Intellect: A Conceptual Framework" SRI Summary Report AFOSR-3223 By Douglas C. Engelbart October 1962 https://dougengelbart.org/pubs/augment-3906.html

   And "An Introduction to Cybernetics" by W. Ross Ashby http://pespmc1.vub.ac.be/ASHBBOOK.html PDF: http://pespmc1.vub.ac.be/books/IntroCyb.pdf Specifically "Amplifying intelligence" which comes at the end so you kinda have to read the whole book to get it. It's worth reading anyway.

   > Bicycles, and their near-optimal designs, are still a $68B industry.

   What does that have to do with anything?

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3. leroy-is-hereMar 2023
   Cybernetics is fairly formalized, but a lot of research into it was dropped. Cybernetics is based on information theory and approaches systems in a probabilistic way which is in direct contrast to the AI approach of the 50s and 60s which were really about processing discrete pieces of data.

   If you read cybernetics texts today, they paint a picture very similar to neural networks and the statistical methods for processing data. "Introduction to Cybernetics" by W. Ross Ashby is a decent text with a lot of good exercises. I still think there's a lot to learn here.

   >It does. It unifies all of mathematics at the lowest level

   This was attempted before by Russel & Whitehead before Godel proved that any sufficiently complicated system can produce non-truths and false statements that cannot be verified by that same system.

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4. kilgnadMar 2023
   >This was attempted before by Russel & Whitehead before Godel proved that any sufficiently complicated system can produce non-truths and false statements that cannot be verified by that same system.

   I never made the claim the system was complete.

   >If you read cybernetics texts today, they paint a picture very similar to neural networks and the statistical methods for processing data. "Introduction to Cybernetics" by W. Ross Ashby is a decent text with a lot of good exercises. I still think there's a lot to learn here.

   well unfortunately I don't see anything formal in the Wikipedia. I'll take a deeper look at that text though.

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5. carapaceMar 2023
   The open letter is so foolish it invalidates itself. For one thing, it's pouring fuel on the fire. The obvious reaction to such a letter is to accelerate and hide one's own progress, eh?

   Yudkowsky's fear-mongering about sci-fi Skynet is also unmoving to me (for metaphysical reasons I won't go into here) however, his position is at least logically consistent, as Aaronson points out.

   These machines can already talk and think better than many humans, and the ratio (of mentally sub-computer to super-computer humans) will only go up. Ergo, the only intellectual problem left is how to use them.

   I've been banging on about this for a couple of weeks now, so apologies to those who've seen it before, please read "Augmenting Human Intellect: A Conceptual Framework" SRI Summary Report AFOSR-3223 by Douglas C. Engelbart, October 1962 https://dougengelbart.org/pubs/augment-3906.html

   And then at least skim "An Introduction to Cybernetics" by W. Ross Ashby. http://pespmc1.vub.ac.be/books/IntroCyb.pdf The thing you're looking for is "intelligence amplifier". Engelbart references it, the book explains all the math you need to understand and build one.

   The next piece of the puzzle is something called "Neurolinguistic Programming" (you may have heard of it, some people will tell you it's pseudoscience, ignore those people, they mean well but they just don't know what they're talking about.) It turns out there's a rigorous repeatable psychology that more-or-less works. It's been under development for about half a century.

   The particular thing to look at is a specific algorithm called "Core Transformation Process" ( https://www.coretransformation.org/ ) which is kind of like the "Five Why's" technique but for the mind. It functions to reduce yak-shaving and harmonize intent.

   Anyway, the upshot of it all is that these machines can be made into automatic perfect therapists, using off-the-shelf technology.

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6. carapaceDec 2022
   cf. Englebart; and Ashby "Introduction to Cybernetics"

   The fundamental principle of intelligence augmentation (of human intelligence by machine assistance) comes from selection: the machine can generate options beyond those which the un-augmented human mind can reach, but from which it can select.

   Anyway, the question is, "What is good?"

   It's an open-ended intelligence test built into the structure of the Universe, of all possible Universes.

   Additional references:

   Wendell Berry "What Are People For?"

   Larry Niven, the character Teela Brown (spoiler alert)

   "Five Whys" diagnostic technique and "Core Transformation Process" a similar technique for human consciousness

   Also "Intuitive Ordinal Notations"

   https://github.com/semitrivial/IONs

   https://hn.algolia.com/?dateRange=all&page=0&prefix=true&que...

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